Abstract

Laboratory-based surveillance, one of the pillars of monitoring infectious disease trends, relies on data produced in clinical and/or public health laboratories. Currently, diagnostic laboratories worldwide submit strains or samples to a relatively small number of reference laboratories for characterisation and typing. However, with the introduction of molecular diagnostic methods and sequencing in most of the larger diagnostic and university hospital centres in high-income countries, the distinction between diagnostic and reference/public health laboratory functions has become less clear-cut. Given these developments, new ways of networking and data sharing are needed. Assuming that clinical and public health laboratories may be able to use the same data for their own purposes when sequence-based testing and typing are used, we explored ways to develop a collaborative approach and a jointly owned database (TYPENED) in the Netherlands. The rationale was that sequence data - whether produced to support clinical care or for surveillance -can be aggregated to meet both needs. Here we describe the development of the TYPENED approach and supporting infrastructure, and the implementation of a pilot laboratory network sharing enterovirus sequences and metadata.
.

Submit your article here

Share

Tools

The European Commission has launched a public consultation on possible activities to include in a proposal for a Council Recommendation on Strengthened Cooperation against Vaccine Preventable Diseases in the EU. The objective of the consultation is to collect the views and input of citizens, administrations, associations and other relevant organisations, with input invited until 15 March. For more general information on EU action on vaccination, visit this page.

News/announcements

This year’s EFSA conference, Science, Food, Society, is constructed around the motto ‘contextualising risk assessment’ and will take place from 18–21 September in Parma. The call for posters is now open and early career researchers are particularly encouraged to submit a proposal by 2 April.